{"id":4351,"date":"2023-07-14T13:01:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T18:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2023-07-14T13:01:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T18:01:29","slug":"these-49-senators-voted-to-confirm-biden-eeoc-pick-seen-as-likely-to-force-transgender-ideology-on-employers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=4351","title":{"rendered":"These 49 Senators Voted to Confirm Biden EEOC Pick Seen as Likely to Force Transgender Ideology on Employers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-1024x532.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-4352\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-1024x532.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-1024x532.png 1024w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-770x400.png 770w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-293x152.png 293w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64-390x203.png 390w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-64.png 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/senate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The U.S. Senate<\/a>&nbsp;narrowly confirmed Kalpana Kotagal, President Joe Biden\u2019s pick to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in a move critics warn will force transgender ideology on employers across America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m incredibly concerned about Kalpana Kotagal\u2019s record of support for radical transgender ideology,\u201d Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/author\/tyler-oneil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Daily Signal<\/a>&nbsp;in a statement Wednesday before voting Thursday not to confirm the employment lawyer to the EEOC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created to combat racism and sexism in the workplace,\u201d Cruz said, \u201cbut the woke Left is trying to use the EEOC to push its agenda on employers, and based on Kotagal\u2019s record I think she will use her position to attack religious liberty and force her politics on Texas companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate confirmed Kotagal by a vote of 49-47, mostly along party lines. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bucked his party on Biden\u2019s nominee, but other vulnerable Democratic senators\u2014and independents who caucus with Democrats\u2014toed the party line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not voting were Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and three Republicans: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and J.D. Vance of Ohio. The offices of the GOP lawmakers didn\u2019t immediately respond to The Daily Signal\u2019s request for comment on why they didn\u2019t vote on Kotagal\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawley.senate.gov\/hawley-visits-st-louis-area-impacted-radioactive-waste-vows-justice-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sen. Hawley\u2019s office<\/a>&nbsp;reached out after publication, noting that the senator traveled to St. Louis and visited the Jana Elementary School and Coldwater Creek, areas affected by decades-old nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is clear from her prior work with far-left progressive organizations, including a group that wants to ban fossil fuels, that Ms. Kotagal does not represent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/west-virginia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">West Virginia values<\/a>&nbsp;and would prioritize a partisan agenda over creating commonsense, bipartisan solutions that bring our nation forward,\u201d Manchin told The Daily Signal in a statement Thursday. \u201cUltimately, I did not support Ms. Kotagal because the EEOC should remain as free as possible of partisan ideologies when making important decisions for America\u2019s workers and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnder no circumstance should the Senate confirm Kalpana Kotagal to be a member of the EEOC,\u201d Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation, said on Twitter. \u201cHer appointment would turn the EEOC into an even more radical commission with devastating effects on our businesses and communities.\u201d (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation\u2019s news outlet.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKotagal, if confirmed, may well turn the EEOC into the point of the spear for the radical gender ideologues,\u201d Reed Rubinstein, director of oversight at America First Legal, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost large corporations promote gender ideology and punish workers who dissent,\u201d Rubinstein argued. \u201cBut it is likely that the EEOC will focus on small and privately owned family businesses, many of which simply lack the resources needed to fight back effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rubinstein called on House Republicans to use \u201cbudgetary and oversight tools to rein in EEOC overreach\u201d and said conservative lawyers should use Freedom of Information Act \u201cinvestigations and litigation to defend against&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/07\/12\/will-federal-government-force-transgender-ideology-employers-senate-vote-biden-eeoc-pick\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EEOC\u2019s transgender agenda<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee due to characteristics such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kotagal will fill a vacancy on the five-member EEOC. Two incumbent commissioners are Republicans appointed by then-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">President Donald Trump<\/a>&nbsp;(Keith Sonderling and Andrea Lucas), and two are Democrats appointed by Biden (Chair Charlotte Burrows and Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kotagal\u2019s confirmation not only gives Democrats the majority but removes a check on the commission\u2019s advocacy for transgender ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new EEOC member specializes in employment law and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/inclusion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a>,\u201d also called DEI. She partnered with film executive Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni and Stacy Smith, a University of Southern California communications professor, to craft a template for an \u201cinclusion rider,\u201d a provision in an actor\u2019s or filmmaker\u2019s contract requiring diversity among casting and production staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among other things, the \u201cinclusion rider\u201d requires a company to keep specific data\u2014provided to an \u201cEXPERT\u201d\u2014tallying how many of those involved in a project\u2019s production \u201cself-identified as\u201d transgender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2021, Kotagal represented the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cohenmilstein.com\/case-study\/gender-affirming-surgery-coverage-aetna\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suing Aetna<\/a>&nbsp;to force the insurance company to cover \u201cbreast augmentation\u201d surgeries for biological males who identify as female. Aetna agreed to revise its policy to consider \u201cbreast augmentation\u201d surgeries medically necessary rather than cosmetic for certain policyholders who claim to identify as transgender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Critics say Kotagal will tip the balance of the EEOC in favor of transgender activism, which the five-member commission already has shown signs of supporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/wysk\/message-eeoc-chair-charlotte-burrows-pride-month-and-anniversary-supreme-courts-decision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EEOC interpreted discrimination<\/a>&nbsp;on the basis of sex\u2014banned in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964\u2014to include sexual orientation and gender identity, despite the fact that Congress would not have passed the law with such a meaning in 1964. The EEOC has touted its advocacy for this interpretation, which the Supreme Court ultimately adopted in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet the EEOC\u2019s transgender advocacy goes far beyond this interpretation of federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Internal documents obtained by The Heritage Foundation\u2019s Oversight Project reveal that EEOC training sessions uncritically present a version of the \u201cgenderbread person,\u201d a graphic that separates \u201cgender identity\u201d and \u201cgender expression\u201d from \u201csex assigned at birth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 New docs in this\ud83e\uddf5show an out of control, woke, + weaponized <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USEEOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USEEOC<\/a>. Adding another radical to the mix would undo the work of the Supreme Court in protecting the constitutional rights of Americans + empower radical bureaucratic elites instead.<br><br>From their own training docs: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/86QlPOAkRH\">https:\/\/t.co\/86QlPOAkRH<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hLlcsY1AzH\">pic.twitter.com\/hLlcsY1AzH<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Oversight Project (@OversightPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OversightPR\/status\/1679104296896413696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Critics claim that adoption of these terms involves an acceptance of an ideology implying that biological sex is socially constructed, rather than a central reality of humanity that enables humans to reproduce.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/06\/05\/orwellian-associated-press-forbids-even-discussing-transgenderism-as-an-ideology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transgender ideology<\/a>&nbsp;consists of presenting \u201cgender identity\u201d as the overriding characteristic, so that changing a person\u2019s body to match a gender identity opposite his or her biological sex is redefined as \u201caffirming,\u201d rather than destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Here are the senators who voted for Kotagal (all are Democrats or independents who caucus with Democrats):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arizona\u2019s Mark Kelley and Kyrsten Sinema (I)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California\u2019s Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Colorado\u2019s John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connecticut\u2019s Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delaware\u2019s Tom Carper and Chris Coons<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Georgia\u2019s Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hawaii\u2019s Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Illinois\u2019 Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maine\u2019s Angus King (I)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maryland\u2019s Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Massachusetts\u2019 Ed Markey and Liz Warren<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michigan\u2019s Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minnesota\u2019s Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Montana\u2019s Jon Tester<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevada\u2019s Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Hampshire\u2019s Maggie Hasson and Jeanne Shaheen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Jersey\u2019s Corey Booker and Bob Menendez<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Mexico\u2019s Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New York\u2019s Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ohio\u2019s Sherrod Brown<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oregon\u2019s Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pennsylvania\u2019s Bob Casey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rhode Island\u2019s Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vermont\u2019s Bernie Sanders (I) and Peter Welch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Virginia\u2019s Tim Kaine and Mark Warner<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Washington\u2019s Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wisconsin\u2019s Tammy Baldwin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Original Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/07\/13\/these-49-senators-voted-confirm-bidens-eeoc-pick-likely-force-transgender-ideology-us-employers\/\">https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/07\/13\/these-49-senators-voted-confirm-bidens-eeoc-pick-likely-force-transgender-ideology-us-employers\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Senate&nbsp;narrowly confirmed Kalpana Kotagal, President Joe Biden\u2019s pick to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in a move critics warn will force transgender ideology on employers across America. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly concerned about Kalpana Kotagal\u2019s record of support for radical transgender ideology,\u201d Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told&nbsp;The Daily Signal&nbsp;in a statement Wednesday before voting Thursday not to confirm the employment lawyer to the EEOC. \u201cThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created to combat racism and sexism in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-woke-agenda"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4353,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions\/4353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}